Document EP 0 544 581 discloses such a secure connector comprising a distal entry cone of female Luer type designed to be connected to a device having a connector of compatible and complementary male Luer type. The distal entry cone is blocked by a septum or membrane having a flush surface which is easily cleaned for removal of germs or bacteria before eventual connection is made. The septum protects a tube which, once the connection is made, extends in part in the hole of the connector of male Luer type to which it is connected. Once connected, the connector of document EP 0 544 581 presents a straight tubular passage and reduced dead volume. Document EP 0 544 581 describes a secure female connector.
However, it becomes necessary to have a male connector having the same properties to benefit from the same security of use as the female connector of document EP 0 544 581. In addition, in cooperation with the connector of document EP 0 544 581, use of such a secure male connector would produce a secure universal connection.
French patent application FR 2 931 363 has therefore proposed a connector for a liquid circuit, especially for medical use, comprising a proximal coupler, a distal coupler defining a passage, a hollow tube mounted fixed on the proximal coupler, extending in the passage of the distal coupler and comprising a free distal end, and an elastically deformable membrane, substantially tubular, closed at a distal end by a membrane thickness and designed to cover the free end of the hollow tube substantially tightly at rest, the distal coupler being mounted to slide relative to the proximal coupler between a distal rest position and a proximal position of use in which the hollow tube can be selectively disengaged from said membrane thickness.
The use of such a distal coupler mounted to slide relative to the proximal coupler especially disengages the free distal end from the hollow tube protected by the membrane for cleaning of the latter to remove all germs or bacteria prior to connection, the hollow tube playing the role of male part of the connector.
However, the applicant has realised that the male and female connectors were difficult to clean, especially at the level of their respective distal parts comprising the membrane. Now, especially in the domain of chemotherapy where drugs are very aggressive during their preparation by personnel or when injected into patients, the property of the material used is fundamental to the extent where patients are very sensitive to nosocomial diseases.
Also, connection and disconnection of the set of connectors is difficult and requires several steps on the part of the operator.
Finally, current locking means do not guarantee the user that the connectors are effectively properly connected. In particular, when threadings are used at the level of the ends of the male and female connectors to be connected, the operator often cannot know if he has sufficiently screwed the connectors together and if the connection of the tubes has been completed correctly.